The World of Tactics

Chapter Eleven II: Another Nightly Monster Magnet

"There are rare times when one with such an innate ability appears. Those that were discovered early are hoarded by their specific kingdoms or empires. As for those that discovered that they had such an innate ability. Their lives are quite varied because they could either be in danger because of it or use it to gain riches beyond those mediocre.

Some could innately see far away and use a bow. Those with such amazing sights could attack farther than the rest because of their eyesight advantages (Bow Range +1). One that possesses an unimaginable body constitution that could easily wield any heavy weapon with their corresponding weapon mastery rank. Of course, such a body's constitution would not easily be weighed down by such heavy weapons. There were many more such cases that were a bit more obvious, like eyesight and an unimaginable body constitution.

What triggers those innate abilities at birth is not known. This needs to be studied more extensively. With a breakthrough, a massive newborn with such an innate ability would be born and this kingdom will be more victorious and stronger!" -Thought by a king born with an innate ability while researching secretively ways to birth such a child with innate abilities.

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After making camp, he teaches Mike how to make a fire. The sunlight hours were still there but over the long duration of making fire. It was not enough. The plans to make fire took longer than he had expected and he only sparked some fire when it was one hour deep into the night. For some reason, as long as Dork was still awake. Dork's innate skills would not activate at all. He was about to start cooking some delightful wolves' meats, but it was interrupted by Dork's ability. This time Mike was awake.

[Party member, Dork, innate skill activates!]

That was all that he needed to know before gridlines started to appear. This time, the map was slightly smaller than before, ten by thirteen. However, the only difference was the enemies. It was goblins this time. The leading goblin's level sat at fifteen. Meanwhile, the rest ranges from seven to twelve. The difference was huge because the goblins numbered over fifteen. It was no wonder why Dork was quite unlucky. This number was so high and the map was barely able to contain the goblins. It would be a messy battle if both sides had at least that many units on each side along with this small map.

He directly went to the [Select Units] tab after the gridline finished and the tab screen appeared right before him. He was about to select Goon this time, but he did not. He chose Uzi even though it would be a dicey battle tonight. While inside the [Inventory] Tab, he took off Goon's herb batches and gave them to Uzi. It was essential for Uzi's survival tonight. He also gave one more stack of herb batches to Uzi. Uzi now has one stack of herb batches that were used along with two other stacks of herb batches.

As for the remaining three herb batches that were in his inventory, he planned to give two stacks of herb batches to Mike and keep the one that he had already used. As for Dork, it was unnecessary because he had a plan. This would ensure that Mike could gain some levels while fighting one goblin. Meanwhile, he and Uzi finish up the remaining goblins. In truth, he will be leaving one or two of the weaker goblins for Mike to deal with at the very end when all of the threats have been eliminated by him and Uzi. Mike should not have any problem gaining a level or two.

There is also another concern. If Uzi were to fall in battle by his mistake, that would open up the passage for the goblins to attack Mike and Dork. If he manages well, Uzi should be able to gain a few decent levels during the battle. It would have been a huge adventure just to get things done well.

There was a reason why he did not plan on letting Dork and Mike escape from battle even though there were fifteen goblins within sight. To his left, while facing the fireplace, there was a ledge that just popped up quite high. He went to the [Map] tab just to confirm it.

Within the [Map] tab, it did indeed show that the side of the ledge was inaccessible. That also means that no unit could get up there nor any unit could go down from up there. The great thing about the ledge was that there were only two squares that allowed it to climb up and those two squares are the only three to four squares from them. While the leading goblins were five to six squares away from the ledge.

As long as he was able to persuade Mike to take cover within one of the ledges, then Mike would be safe from the goblins. That is unless Mike did not follow his commands at all. That is the only flaw in his plan and he intends to keep it that way until the plan messes up. Just a double check, he went back to the [Conditions] and there was a slight change. The conditions were [Route], [Escape], and finally [Survive 10 Round]. From the last condition, he could guess that there might be a change after ten rounds which would end the battle. For now, his attitude to the final condition was to ignore it.

He also checked the [Skills], but there was nothing as of yet. So, with the plan finalized, he went to the [Start Battle]. Going through the tedious [Start] option and pressing [Yes].

The moment it turned to [Player's Turn], he saw another setting within his view [1/10]. He knows what that signifies. It was currently in the very first round and it was their turn. If he guesses it correctly. When the enemies ended their turn, he came back to his turn. The counter setting would become [Player's Turn][2/10]. It was a new setting and he did know where that setting came from.

He moved one square to the left side and was about to talk to Mike. However, he found a new option that reads [Command]. There was also the [Talk] option, but he was curious about the [Command] option. So, he presses the [Command] option. The moment he did so, he saw the overview of the map and he could select Mike and Dork to do something. But that was only if it was Mike's turn. The same also applies to Dork as well. Without hurrying, with a thought, he could cancel this [Command] mode.

He was back to where his square was and if he wanted to move closer to Mike, he had to physically move one square to the left side again. Essentially, what matters was that as long as he did not confirm or acted in any sort of way while within the [Command] option. His turn would not end and he would be back to his original square without needing to move back to his square to be able to get it again. The [Command] option was quite interesting.

This time, though, he realized that he did not need to move close before being able to select the [Command] option. He realized where this was going. He still remembers Lawrence had been commanding the soldiers. It was no wonder why the four of them were in sync during the battle on the third morning after they left the mansion. It was this [Command] option all along.

He went to the [Command] option again and this time he selected Mike's pixilation figure. Then the same options that he had popped up: [Move], [Item], [Wait], [Cancel]. It was quite obvious where this was going. He made sure to move Mike over four squares and on top of the ledge and made Mike wait on top of the ledge. The same goes for Dork as well. With those two secure, he accepted the commands and the same familiar exclamation marks appeared on top of the two's heads, Mike and Dork.

It seems that the message between the two has crossed over and the two should realize what is going on at this point. He only had two options left after that. It was just the [Item] and the [Wait] option. Since he did not have the use for [Item], he directly ends his turn by selecting the [Wait] option. So, his pixelation on the map turns grey to signify that he could no longer reverse any action that he had done. Even so, he directly moved Uzi to the block off one square of the ledge and ended their [Player's Turn][1/10].

This is the moment of truth. It was [Neutral's Turn][1/10]. He wanted to see the effects of the [Command] option and how great of an impact it has on the map. Mike was the first to move and move directly towards the square that he had Mike move to during the [Command] mode. As for Dork, Dork was Dork. Dork did indeed move up to the ledge. However, Dork did not follow through with the command he had for Dork. Even though Dork was a square off from where he had directed Dork. It was fine since the two were on top of the ledge now.

There are some limitations to the [Command] option. He truly does not have full control like Goon and Uzi. The two will go wherever he is specific. As for the other two, they had their thoughts and would never truly follow his commands if they had a different opinion. Dork was a prime example. The difference between Mike and Dork was that Mike was more obedient while Dork had another mind of his own.

For this, he had to command wisely and weigh the trust between him and the one that he was commanding. This is because slight disobedience may mean the end of his strategy. Not only that, the risk with the [Command] option is quite high since there are no guarantees that the unit will be following through with the action. Regarding this, if he knows that the commander is sending him into a death trap. He would also not follow through with the action in battle either.

[Enemy's Turn][1/10]. The first to move was the leading goblin, who was level at fifteen. He was not worried at all because the distance between the leading goblin and Uzi was still a square away. No matter how strong the goblin is. As long as the leading goblin was not within the square right next to Uzi. The leading goblin could not attack Uzi at all. Since the leading goblin's turn ends. The rest of the goblins follow behind like a stream of raindrops in their direction.

After the [Enemy's Turn][1/10] ended, it was their turn again. [Player's Turn][2/10], it was as he had expected. The first round ended just like that. He moves three squares and blocks off the last gap of the square that leads to the ledge. For the goblins to get to Mike and Dork. They have to get through him and Uzi first, but he will not let that happen any time soon. After all, he is not willing to lose these experience bags easily.

He made Uzi stay within the same square while equipping the jaw. This should be able to do some chip damage to the leading goblin while gaining a massive amount of experience. The choices were made and the action was done. So, their turn had come to an end.

[Neutral's Turn][2/10]. Mike did not dare to move away from the square. Meanwhile, Dork was quite the daredevil and moved to the square that was adjacent to the ledge and sat down. Dork was also chewing on the long grass that was on the ledge as well. Not only that, it was high enough for Dork to be able to view everything below. Lucky for the two on top of the ledge, the escape square was just a few short squares away on the ledge as well. It was no wonder Dork was so relaxed in this situation. Dork was a pretty weird miniature donkey.

[Enemy's Turn][2/10] came quickly and Uzi was the first to be attacked by the leading goblin. A red-negative four flashes on top of Uzi's head and Uzi could only retaliate with a lower negative number of two (Uzi, EXP +100, Level up). The level up was expected, but what he did not expect was that Uzi had given two unallocated points. This completely changed his expectations. He had thought at first that Uzi would be given only one unallocated point, but why did the sudden change?

He remembers that he got Goon when Goon was just rank zero, while he got Uzi when Uzi was at rank one. This might be the difference and this may be the cause of the difference in the given unallocated points. However, he was still confused. When Goon became rank one, why did Goon not be able to gain two unallocated points as well? None of those makes any sense. For now, he judged that it was because of the rank that he got them. That is what makes the difference between the unallocated points. That is not the conclusion though, because he did not have any solid evidence.

He put the two unallocated points into speed for now. He was also quite tempted to put the two points into defense, but he knows that having all units with high defense is not good for the future. The future is filled with many uncertainties and he might find a high-speed unit to be much more useful than a high defense with low speed. He would never be able to predict the future nor know what he will be facing in the future. The only thing that he knows that could impact the future is to prepare something right now and the Uzi with high speed will come into use sooner or later.

The second closest goblin targeted Uzi. The second goblin was only level eight, so it was easier for Uzi to the tank. The second goblin could only deal a total of three damage. In return, Uzi has a superior speed stat and manages to deal double attacks on the second goblin. In total, Uzi has dealt an amazing three damage for each attack which results in a total of six damage (Uzi, EXP +60). It was a fantastic exchange and which is more than half of the second goblin's health. He was confident that Uzi would also be able to double attack the leading goblin after two more levels at this rate.

As for the other goblins, because of the ledge being blocked by the two of them. There were no other ways up to the top of the ledge. So, the goblins try to loop around but make their short movements. They could only pile into stacks behind the first two goblins. Likewise, none of the remaining goblins were able to reach him at all and the [Enemy's Turn][2/10] ended just like that.